Monday, August 29, 2011

Penang Tau Sar Pheah/Mung Bean Biscuits

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As a paradise of cuisine, Penang has indeed a whole range of delicious cuisine that attracts many visitors to the island. One such delicacy is the ubiquitous Penang Tau Sar Pheah. It is widely enjoyed by both locals and tourists. Penang tau sar pheah (豆沙饼) in Hokkien, is basically a baked biscuit with thin layers of flaky pastry and mung beans filling. There are many brands of this biscuit in Penang, but the most famous one will be the Ghee Hiang and the Him Heang brand. A trip to Penang will not be complete if you don’t buy a few boxes of this biscuits to take home with you to share it with family and friends.

I will always bring back a couple of boxes of this biscuits with me when I am back for vacation. This is one of the snacks I miss a lot since living here in the US. There was once I didn’t packed the biscuits well and once it reach the US custom, the immigration lady wanted to check one of my suitcase. She unzip the suitcase and some of the tau sar pheah fell out. It was all over the table. It was so embarrassing ha ha… and she said this must be something good as you carried it all the way from back here. Thanks God she was not upset with me and didn’t confiscate the biscuits. So each time I eat this biscuits I will think of the incident.

In conjunction of Malaysia Independence Day on the 31st of August, as usual Babe in the City-KL will be hosting a virtual Merdeka Day open house and this year theme is Makan (means Eat) Through Malaysia which we are to prepare a dish famously linked to a place in Malaysia. Actually it is a pretty tough theme for me as I have been away from Malaysia for so long and hardly have a chance to try out all the great food in Malaysia. After giving it some thought, I decided to make this famous biscuits. This was in my to-do list for a few years now and finally I can strike it off the list.

I prepared the filling a day earlier and the traditional Chinese pastries the next day. There is a lot of wrapping, rolling and rolling and by the time I finish the 65 pieces I was death tired but it is all worth it. The biscuits tasted really good with flaky pastries and very nice and fragrant filling.

1. Soak the beans for at least 4 hours, steamed for 30 minutes or until soft. Put it in a food processor and give it a few pulses (not too smooth). Add In the sugar, salt and pepper and mix well.
2. Heat up the oil and fry the shallots until lightly brown and fragrant. Add in the bean mixture. Stir and fry until the mixture is slightly dry and you are able to form it into a ball with it.
3. Remove and divide the filling into 65 small balls. Set it aside.

Prepare the dough:

1. Mix ingredients for dough A until it form into a smooth dough. If the dough is too dry add a bit more oil. Wrap dough with cling wrap and set it aside to rest for 30mins. Divide into 65 pieces.
2. Mix Ingredients for dough B together until it form into a smooth dough. Wrap dough with cling wrap and set it aside for 30mins. Divide into 65 pieces

1. Take a piece of dough B and wrap it around dough A. Be sure to wrap tightly and eliminate any air pocket. Flatten the dough with your palm then roll it out into long oval thin dough using a rolling pin (pix A). Roll the dough up like a Swiss roll (Pix B and C).

(pix A)

(Pix B)

(Pix C)

2. Turn the dough 90° (pix D), flatten it and roll it out thin (pix E). Then roll it up like a Swiss roll (pix F) Repeat step 1 and 2 with the remaining dough.

(Pix D)

(Pix E)

(Pix F)

3. Take 1 piece of pastry dough, press down the center of the dough (Pix G)and pinch both ends (Pix H)together then flatten it so the dough is roughly round shape. Roll the dough out to a circle

(Pix G)

(Pix H)

4. Wrap it with filling. Brush with egg wash and bake it in a pre-heated 375 degree F oven until golden brown.

Hmmm...if only I'm living next door...!Here ada jual jugak but not as fresh as you can get back home.J and I love this and we can finished a box within a day.I'll bookmarked this recipe but don't know when I'll have the motivation to bake these.The heart is willing but the body is not...lol!

Gert, I just had one tau sar pneah yesterday and it just looked exactly like the one in your pic! You really nailed it! After seeing your steps, it's so laborious ya to come up with the layers, so I'll definitely appreciate all the efforts that went in for one delicious bite ;-)

Thank you for participating in Merdeka Open House. Check back for the round up ;-)

Gert, I like the colour of your filling a lot. Looks so fresh & moist. I was planning to make this as well cause the store bought ones are really dry, which I don't like about....except the northern part TSP (includes Penang, Kampar, Bidor and Teluk Intan), their fillings taste better compare to the sourthern part. Thanks for posting this.Have a nice day.Kristy

Thanks for sharing this recipe, you make it look so easy, though im sure it's not! I used to buy back boxes of tau sar piah when we go to anywhere in M'sia. It is a must-buy for most S'poreans just like lau-po-peang. :)

*Shannon kow tow-ing" to GertrudeWow I'm so impressed with all the hardwork & sweat. Even though I'm a Penangite, I never buy a box myself to eat, usually someone who visit a penang will buy to bring back and give me a box.. I guess I sudah 'jelak'.. Now I have a new appreciation & admiration for the intensive labour that goes into 1 small pop.

Thank you for sharing this lovely cookies.I saw many TW program the chef used Low gluten flour for the oil pastry -- Dough A as it will be more softer and the layers will be more flaky.A secret to make it much better is never force any extra pastry when you seal the ages into the base. Have to remove it as it will make the tau sar piah has a hard base when baked.

From the photos, you're young !! It is good to see young people loves to cook !!

First i see this recipe,straightly i went to my kitchen to soak mung bean..i like so much this,but now i live in Japan then imposible for me to have it,with this resipe now in weekend i can bake 33 pieces,my cookies turn sooo delicious,even i use not peeled mung bean..thanks for sharing all great resipe..keep blogging cz i love to read and check ur resipe everytime im free..o(^▽^)o

You are truly my hero! Thank you for your post of such a lovely yet simple indulgence. My family originates from Seremban but my grandma's grave site is in Muar so when we would drive to pay our respects I would always insist on stopping by one of the bakeries for a few rolls of tau sar piah. I can't wait to make this in the coming weekend! Living in Canada (and now Japan) I thought I would never get to taste this again. I will be sure to take photos and email you! Once again, thanks so much. :)

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About Me

I was born and raised in Malaysia and now live in Northern California, USA with my wonderful husband Carlos. I love to bake and cook. It is very relaxing and I find my creativity flowing in the kitchen. I creates this blog to record all my cooking and baking adventures and also share my tested recipes with you.
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